The School as a Community

School - An educational institution design to provide learning spaces and environments for
learners
Community - A group of people living together in one place sharing of common characteristics
which link them all irrespective of locality, interest, passion, needs occupation etc.
School Culture - Refers to the beliefs, perceptions, relationships, attitudes, written and
unwritten rules that shape and influence every aspect of how school functions.
Example:
 Practice (rites, rituals, and ceremonies)
 Communication (stories, legends, symbols, and slogans)
 Common language (phrases or jargon common to the school)

School-Community Relationship - Members of the school will be members of their local

community reflecting its beliefs and values conveyed through the action, behavior, and
attitudes of pupils, teaching and non-teaching staff, parents and schools.
Example:
 Home Visiting
 Brigada Eskwela
 Work Experience Program
 Youth Development Programs

3 Possible patterns of connection between the School and the Community

 Closed Door Pattern - It will waste energy without the right guidance from the parents
and the community, the school will be unaware of changes occurring in these systems
 Open Door Pattern - The school and parents operate as an open system that designed
to process inputs of its external environments, only to return the processed product to
the environment for its use and benefit
 Balanced Pattern - The school and parents set the degree of closeness or distance
between them in order to achieve their educational and social goals to the optimal
extent

The School as a Learning Community

What is Learning Community?
Learning Community
 a group of people who share a common interest and sense-making approaches for
building collaborative knowledge and valued activities.
 In learning organization, members work together, mutually understanding each other
and respecting the diversity of one another

Characteristics of a Learning Community

 Belonging - Members need to feel that they belong in the community
 Interdependence - The members of the community need each other and feel needed by
others
 Trust - A major characteristics because it is instrumental to the emotional strength of
the learning group
 Shared Faith - Part of belonging to a community is believing in the community as a
whole, that the community should exist and will be sufficient to meet the members
individual needs.